Orange Moon Wednesday, July 3, 2024 "Life and Death - the Tongue"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"Life and Death - the Tongue" 

"We must expect an ongoing emphasis by our Lord to voice confidence in Him rather than complaint about circumstances, situations, and conditions." 

      

    Can you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ ever complaining during His earthly lifetime?

    He never did, of course, although He was doubtless tempted much to express discontent rather than truth and faith.  "We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, and yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).  Never did our Lord succumb, however, and never did His Father or others hear words of selfish disgruntlement. 

    The same Christ who overcame every temptation to murmur and grumble now lives in born again believers by His Spirit.  Moreover, God works in believers to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).  We must expect an ongoing emphasis by our Lord to voice confidence in Him rather than complaint about circumstances, situations, and conditions.  "Do all things without murmurings" (Philippians 2:14).

   We require the power of the Holy Spirit for such utterance: "the tongue can no man tame" (James 3:8).  Our responsibility involves the acknowledgement of our Heavenly Father's will in the matter: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29).  We then trust that the life Christ lived during His earthly lifetime is now the life He lives in us during our earthly lifetime.  "I will walk in them… Walk even as He walked" (II Corinthians 6:16; I John 2:6).  We submit to God's will in the confidence that He works in us to replace complaining with praise, ingratitude with thanksgiving, and unbelief with faith.  The Christ who never complained now lives in us to enable our overcoming of a temptation we all face, and must consistently and increasingly overcome.  Solomon referred to the matter in the most serious terms: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).  We must therefore take the matter most seriously, indeed, as a matter of life and death.

   Many of us have uttered the old platitude (I certainly have): "I can't complain.  Wouldn't do any good anyway."  True, but this is not the half the truth regarding murmuring.  Something dies when we complain, both in us, and in others that hear the voicing of our discontent.  "I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed" (Psalm 77:3).  We put faith to death regarding whatever matter our complaint addresses.  Again, "death… in the power of the tongue."  Conversely, when we submit our tongue to the Lord and avail ourselves of His grace to affirm utter words of faith and life, we bless our hearts and our world with edification - "Life… in the power of the tongue."

    We were created by one named in Scripture as "the Word" (John 1:1-3).  Believers were redeemed by the same glorious living Word (I Peter 1:23).  Little wonder that our words bear such significance and impact of life and death.  The Psalmist knew this and prayed one of the wisest requests found in Scripture.  We do well to frequently join him, using our words to request the power of the living Word, the Lord Jesus, to lead us in using our tongue for life rather than death…

"Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."

(Psalm 141:3) 

Weekly Memory Verse

   And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

(I Timothy 3:16)

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Orange Moon Tuesday, July 2, 2024 "Vast"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"Vast" 

"Regardless of the real challenges and issues of need we face in a fallen world, God and His immeasurable vastness ever teem as the great reality amid all." 

       

    If we could reduce our star - the sun - to the size of a golf ball, we would have to travel more than 700 miles to reach the nearest star reduced in a similar manner and measure.  As one once said, "This is why they call most of the universe space. "

    "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1).

    A vast creation speaks to a far more vast Creator.  "The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee" (I Kings 8:27).  Thought and contemplation quickly break down when seeking to fathom the wonder of an eternal and infinite God.  Interestingly, however, such truth bears powerfully practical impact on our lives.  A primary component of the believer's faith lies in the conviction that our Lord's "greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).  Applied to the everyday matters of life, the eternal and the infinite wonder of God help us to find a perspective of peace.  

    "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

    We rest our minds on God's vastness regarding the measure of His being and power.  Just as importantly, we remember and affirm how present, willing, and able He abides in our lives.  "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20).  Regardless of the real challenges and issues of need we face in a fallen world, God and His immeasurable vastness ever teem as the great reality amid all.  Moreover, such presence and power "worketh in us."  Such grace may not seem to be the case as we "walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7).  It always is the case, however.  "I will be with thee" sounds and resounds the promise so vast in assurance of God's working, and so vast in assurance of His loving devotion to our well being (Isaiah 43:2).

    I spoke to a young man recently who chronicled a litany of problems and challenges that confronted him.  I sought to be compassionate because the difficulties and pains of life are quite real and consequential.  However, I also suggested that he view the matters not merely as problems and challenges.  "What if they are primarily opportunities to know and trust the Lord?  What if He has administered or allowed the issues in order to reveal how present, involved, willing, and able He is to be what you need Him to be in all things?"  I did not frame my response in terms of our present consideration, but it would have been appropriate to suggest the vastness of God, the God "able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

   I often think of the golf ball mentioned, or rather, our sun reduced in size to help understand a universe so much larger than we can contemplate.  However, a vast universe speaks to an infinitely greater reality.  An unsearchable greatness of being and power defines the God we love and trust. Yes, His greatest vastness - His heart - assures us that such truth beyond understanding meets us in whatever we face in this moment to bestow its immeasurable peace upon us…

"The love of Christ passeth knowledge."

(Ephesians 3:19)

Weekly Memory Verse

   And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

(I Timothy 3:16)

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Orange Moon Monday, July 1, 2024 "Wonderful Mercy, Wondrous Mystery"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"Wonderful Mercy, Wondrous Mystery" 

"John speaks to the heart, affirming our Lord's marvelous and merciful motivation.  Paul refers to the mind, acknowledging our Lord's marvel and miracle of method." 

       

    The Apostles John and Paul unite to bless us with a sublime illumination of mercy and mystery singularly found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

   "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

   "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (I Timothy 3:16).

    John tells why our Heavenly Father sent His Son to take humanity upon Himself - He "so loved the world."  Paul, however, acknowledges that we cannot know the how of such a seeming impossibility - "God was manifest in the flesh."  John speaks to the heart, affirming our Lord's marvelous and merciful motivation.  Paul refers to the mind, acknowledging our Lord's marvel and miracle of method.  

    God deems human hearts as precious to His heart despite the fact that "all we like sheep have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6).  Such glory of grace is based on who He is as One whose character ever flows with devotion to others (I Corinthians 13:5).  The better we know our Lord, the more we realize He could not and would not act in any other way than to sacrifice Himself for our redemption and eternal benefit.  "The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).

    Paul, conversely, declares the incarnation of the Lord Jesus as an inarguable "mystery of godliness."  How does the Infinite become finite, while remaining infinite?  How does the Eternal enter into time without forfeiting His "from everlasting to everlasting" being? (Psalm 90:2).  Paul and other writers of Scripture proclaim the mystery, but never attempt to offer explanation for the inexplicable.  It is enough to know that the Lord Jesus is the God who became man, and the man who remains God.  Theologians sometimes refer to this as "the hypostatic union."  This always elicits a chuckle, as if some fancy, academic terminology can somehow describe the indescribable (no offense intended).  No less than Paul acknowledges "without controversy" the glory as a profound enigma, to be wholly embraced with the heart, even if the mind finds it an elusive ray of light difficult to distinctly view.

    Wonderful mercy - John 3:16 - comes to us by way of wondrous mystery - I Timothy 3:16.  John and Paul unite with words inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal the wonder of the Christ never to be fully comprehended, but forever to be known as the brightest illumination of the glory, character, nature, and way of God.  In both Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus.  He occupies a distinct being comprised of divinity and humanity that, according to our understanding, should not exist.  He does, however, and so we fall before Him to join the Apostles in their exultation.  Wonderful mercy!  Wondrous mystery!

"But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows."

(Hebrews 1:8-9)

Weekly Memory Verse

   And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

(I Timothy 3:16)

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